Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Chang and Eng's Grave, White Plains, North Carolina

Chang and Eng Bunker, the original Siamese Twins, are an American success story. Sure, they became famous as sideshow sensations, appearing in P.T. Barnum's show and traveling widely. But they also married, sired 21 children, and retired as rich tobacco farmers and slave owners to North Carolina.

Received an email on this bit of NC local flavor. Knowing only their sideshow background, I would've supposed Chang and Eng would be opposed to slavery, imagining they might have had some garnered some insight into the experience of being exploited. Had I been pressed to guess, I'd have been wrong. Go figure.